8 poisoned after stolen electric meter removed

Delmarva Power disconnected the electricity to the home in October. There was no request to reconnect the power when the family moved there in November.

Delmarva Power disconnected the electricity to the home in October. There was no request to reconnect the power when the family moved there in November.

Photo: Joe Lamberti, MBO

Image 2 of 2

Lloyd Edwards, left, and Bonnie Edwards, the stepfather and mother of Rodney Todd stand outside the home where Todd and his seven children found dead Monday, April 6, 2015, in Princess Anne, Md. Police found the bodies at the home after being contacted by a concerned co-worker of the father, who had not been seen for days, Princess Anne police said in a news release. (AP Photo/Juliet Linderman) less

Lloyd Edwards, left, and Bonnie Edwards, the stepfather and mother of Rodney Todd stand outside the home where Todd and his seven children found dead Monday, April 6, 2015, in Princess Anne, Md. Police found ... more

Photo: Juliet Linderman, STF

8 poisoned after stolen electric meter removed

1 / 2

Back to Gallery

PRINCESS ANNE, Md. - A divorced father and the seven children he was trying to raise on a kitchen worker's salary were poisoned in their sleep by carbon monoxide only days after the power company discovered a stolen meter and cut off electricity to their rental home, police said Tuesday.

Delmarva Power said it did not cut off the family's electricity because they were behind on their bills, but for safety reasons after discovering the illegal connection on March 25.

Rodney Todd, 36, then bought a gas-powered generator and installed it in his kitchen to keep his two sons and five daughters warm. Friends and relatives last saw them alive on March 28.

"The children were all in beds and it appears as though they were sleeping," Princess Anne Police Chief Scott Keller said. "Probably it was bedtime and they decided they needed some light and probably some heat, because toward the end of March even though it was spring we were having some pretty chilly nights."

Translator

To read this article in one of Houston's most-spoken languages, click on the button below.

Police found their bodies Monday inside the one-story wood-frame home on Maryland's Eastern Shore after school workers, friends and Todd's co-workers knocked on the door with no answer.

"I'm just numb. Like it's a nightmare but it's not," the children's mother, Tyisha Luneice Chambers, told the Associated Press on Tuesday. "If I had known he was without electricity, I would have helped."

Why Todd had a generator running indoors wasn't clear. The chief ruled out foul play, and speculated that had it been outside, the noise would have bothered neighbors.

The utility's statement didn't say whether Todd made any arrangements to restore electricity after the illegal meter was removed. The police chief said the utility has been subpoenaed to document exactly what it did when. Maryland's Public Service Commission, which regulates utilities, also is investigating.

While Todd got some welfare money, it wasn't enough to pay the bills, his close friend Sarah Hardy said Tuesday morning.

"How can a man survive off of basically minimum wage with seven kids, and you can't help him with a utility bill?" Hardy asked. "This man was working. And Delmarva Power cuts the lights off?"

Later Tuesday, the utility revealed that the rental home never had legal power while the Todds lived there. The utility said the electricity had been disconnected in October, and there was no request to reconnect it after the family moved there in November.

Protocol compliance

"Through the use of smart meter technology, Delmarva Power discovered a stolen electric meter was being used at the home on March 25, 2015. Delmarva Power disconnected the illegally connected meter for safety reasons and to comply with standard protocol. Delmarva Power did not disconnect electric service at this address for nonpayment," its statement said.

Bonnie Edwards said her grandsons, Cameron and ZhiHeem, were 13 and 7, and her granddaughters, Tyjuziana, Tykeria, Tynijuzia, TyNiah and Tybreyia, were 15, 12, 10, 9 and 6, respectively. Todd did all he could to stretch his money for their care, she said.

"There was nothing he wouldn't do for them," Edwards said. "All he was trying to do was to keep his kids warm."